Man could face 307 years in prison for rape

VISTA — A Vista parolee sex offender pleaded not guilty in court June 2 to charges that he raped two young women, kidnapping one of them, during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Jeremy Ryan Stutzman, 33, faces up to 307 years in prison if convicted of all the charges presented against him during his arraignment, including one count of forcible rape and two counts each of forcible oral copulation, kidnapping, sexual battery by restraint, assault and robbery.
Superior Court Judge Marshall Y. Hockett set bail at $4 million.
Stutzman is accused of sexually assaulting two women ages 19 and 20-years old, kidnapping one of the victims in her own vehicle, and keeping her at knifepoint before returning her to the Vista area the next day. Stutzman lived at the same apartment complex in the 2100 block of South Santa Fe Drive as the two women.
Authorities later arrested Stutzman May 31 at an Oceanside motel without incident, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputy District Attorney Patrick Espinoza said that Stutzman is a parolee registered sex offender. Court documents show that Stutzman had been in prison before for a sex crime conviction in 2000, in which a female was also held.
Authorities said he had cut off the GPS bracelet that was attached to him as part of a condition of his current parole.
The courtroom was quiet as Espinoza gave details of the crimes, saying that both women were blindfolded, bound and gagged.
“At one point, one young lady’s hands were bound to a shower curtain rail,” he said.
Stutzman looked on during the hearing with a glare in his eyes, and sometimes with no expression at all.
Espinoza said that Stutzman had the women try on their own lingerie, eventually cutting their clothes off with a knife.
The 20-year-old managed to escape to a neighbor’s apartment and was able to call police, Espinoza added.
When help arrived, she still had bindings on her ankles, Espinoza said.
His preliminary exam is set for June 16 in a Vista courtroom.